Gunpowder threatens a SETI telescope
The SETI Institute said Friday afternoon (September 10, 2021) that the Allen Telescope Array is being threatened by the great Dixie fire in California. This radio telescope is the first designed specifically for the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). On Friday afternoon, the fire was about 19 km south of the matrix. Scientists and engineers who have normally been evacuated as a precautionary measure in response to an order from the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office. Inciweb said Saturday morning (September 11) that this fire had a 59% content.
According to InciWeb, the Dixie Fire now covers just under a million acres, or an area larger than the state of Rhode Island. It is ranked as the second largest fire in California history, within walking distance of the August complex fire last year.
The SETI Institute said:
According to Alex Pollak, Array’s scientific operations and engineering manager, the slow march north of the fire has caused the need for evacuation. Anticipating the possibility of it reaching the antennas, observatory staff contacted the U.S. Forest Service fire department to prepare the site for possible damage. Two Forest Service teams, about a dozen people, pulled the brush close to the antennas. Trees in the area of any branch less than 10 feet were pruned [about 2 meters] on the ground.
This is not the first time the Allena Telescope Array has been threatened by fire. In the summer of 2014, the so-called Eiler fire reached National Highway 89, about two miles from the antennas. The SETI Institute said:
Circle K Restaurant, Mom and Pop, Hat Creek’s only public restaurant, ended its end in that conflagration.
The Dixie Fire, which is still expanding, is now just a few miles south of the Hat Creek Radio Observatory and the Allen Radio Array at the SETI Institute. https://t.co/53UNWDD2il
– Sky Observer Anthony Cook (@ AnthonyJCook2) September 10, 2021
Telescopes and forest fires
The SETI Institute explained:
It is an unfortunate fact that suitable environments for radio telescopes, including the Allen telescope array, are also places where forest fires are common. Because microwaves, the type of radio signals that the matrix seeks, are not obstructed by the Earth’s atmosphere, there is no reason to place these instruments on mountain tops, as is the case with optical telescopes. .
But like their mirror and lens cousins, radio telescopes are usually found in rural areas. It is presumed that the signals sought by Allen Array are extremely weak and the need for radio silence. The Hat Creek Radio Observatory, where the Array is located, was established in 1959 and is now run by the SETI Institute. It was deliberately located in a region of low population density. The surrounding landscape consists of pastures and forest lands. Most days there are more cattle near the site than people.
Simply put: the wildfire threatens the Allen Telescope Array in California. This telescope was built specifically for SETI (the search for extraterrestrial intelligence). Scientists and engineers have been evacuated from the site. The fire was 19 miles away on Friday.
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